Who can ever get enough of The Wizard of Oz? I think I could watch it every year for the rest of my life and find something new or something I’ve forgotten every time, and, of course, I’d have to sing every song and dance down the yellow brick road.
Well, get ready for the musical version, urban-style that is.
The Wiz, remember, ala Michael Jackson and Diana Ross? Well, MJ is gone and Diana can’t make it to Atlantic-Cape Community College, but there will be some phenomenal local talent performing on June 8 and 9 at the Mays Landing campus in the Walter E. Edge Hall.
Three shows are scheduled (Friday night, June 8, 7pm; Saturday, June 9, 2 and 7pm) by Just Right Productions, a local community theatre company. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, $10 for seniors and children under 12. Call 609-553-2381.
'Rhythm and Rhyme'
On Sunday, June 10, the Atlantic City Theatre Guild will once again help raise funds for The Children’s Cultural Arts Foundation. The CCAF sponsors area youth to a variety of arts-related performances throughout the school year. This year we sent children to Washington D.C. and the new MLK Monument in Washington, D.C., in addition to paying for music lessons and trips to see the Bay-Atlantic Symphony, the Nutcracker ballet and jazz performances at Stockton.
We also give a scholarship to a deserving high school senior.
This year, the A.C. Theatre Guild will perform Rhythm and Rhyme, a series of skits, songs and dances from a wide range of Broadway musicals.
There is only one show, on Sunday, June 10, at Wash’s Inn (128 N. New Rd. in Pleasantville, 3pm). For tickets, call 348-6383 or 350-0671.
Now, here’s some poetry to kick off this unofficial beginning of summer, my favorite time of the year, especially in Atlantic City:
March at the Inlet
When I reached Pacific and the Boardwalk, the winds were high
I could hear the waves before I saw them, unlike the other day
Today, the waves pounded the jetty and the shore with unmatched pressure
Huge whitecaps rolled rapidly behind one another under foggy skies
Fog heavy like cement blocks meant to hold phone books in place until delivery time
Seagulls and ducks rode the mountainous waves like adventurous surfers
I fought to hold my place against the crushing winds
Then, I turned the corner to the Inlet
And all was quiet again, the familiar swish, swish of last week taking over
Here seagulls and ducks rode massive waves lazily as if atop wobbly waterbeds
The sand was saturated but mussel-covered boulders rose dryly above
I took a deep breath of salty air, refreshing my lungs and
Longing for warm summer days
The Ocean has a Way with Me
The ocean has a way with me
Sometimes it’s really mean
I try to leave, to get in my car, to go home and cook and clean
But the ocean has a way with me
Like a lover who won’t let go
I’m trying to get out of the relationship
But he won’t accept my “No”
The ocean has a way with me
His hand is up my skirt
His force, his roar, his promises
I fear will cause me hurt
But the wonder of his depth and might
Have a pull on me and he holds me tight
I try to walk away again
But he always wins this fight
I’ve watched him now for hours
I’ve watched the children play
The swimmers swim, the tanners burn
The surfers on their way
Now the sun goes down and I must go
But he’s not through with me yet
Only the chilling air and a darkening sky
As the sun begins to set
He tells me “No, you must stay with me”
“This awesome sunset you must see”
And I linger on, wanting to go
Cause he still won’t hear me when I say “No”
Only after he’s consumed the sun
And the warmth of another day is done
The horizon I can no longer see
It’s pitch black now
And he’s done with me
Turiya S.A. Raheem was born and raised in Atlantic City. Currently an English teacher at Atlantic Cape Community College, she loves to describe her neighborhood as “the other Atlantic City,” because it was not the casino-resort mecca most people know today. It was a place with a “cozy, down-home feeling” as she describes in her 2010 book, Growing Up in the Other Atlantic City: Wash’s and the Northside.
Read more of 'The Other Atlantic City' columns by clicking here.
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